President Lee Jae Myung says balanced development has now become a strategy for national survival that the nation cannot avoid if it seeks continued growth. 

Lee made the remark on Monday at the presidential office after a briefing with the presidential committee on balanced development. 

The president said that, though history shows South Korea achieved significant gains after pursuing a unipolar system centered on the greater Seoul area, the strong centralization around the capital area now appears to be limiting potential growth. 

He then proposed creating a multipolar system centered on five mega-regions—the greater Seoul area, the southeastern area that includes Busan and Ulsan, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the Chungcheong region, and South Jeolla Province—and three self-governing provinces: Jeju, Gangwon Province, and North Jeolla Province.

The Seoul metro area comprises Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.